Updated, 3:49 p.m. | A JetBlue flight attendant, apparently upset with an uncooperative passenger on a just-landed flight, on Monday unleashed a profanity-laden tirade on the public address system, pulled the emergency-exit chute, slid off the plane and fled Kennedy International Airport, a law enforcement official said.

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The dramatic getaway was short-lived. The attendant, Steven Slater, 38, was arrested at his home not far away in Belle Harbor, Queens. He was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.

The contretemps unfolded as JetBlue Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh landed at Kennedy around noon — on time — with a full load of 100 passengers and pulled up to the gate, said the law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing but offered the following account:

One passenger stood up to fetch belongings from the overhead compartment before the crew had given permission. Mr. Slater instructed the person to remain seated. The passenger defied him. Mr. Slater approached and reached the passenger just as the person pulled down the luggage, which struck Mr. Slater in the head.

Another photo from Mr. Slater’s MySpace page.

Mr. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr. Slater got on the plane’s public address system and cursed out the passenger. Then he activated the inflatable evacuation slide at service exit R1; launched himself off the plane, an Embraer 190; ran to the employee parking lot; and left the airport in a car he had parked there.

In a statement, JetBlue said it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to investigate the incident.

“At no time was the security or safety of our customers or crew members at risk,” the company said, declining to answer other questions about the incident.

A MySpace page appearing to belong to Mr. Slater indicates that he has been a flight attendant since 1990. His LinkedIn entry says he has worked for JetBlue since January 2008.

But didn’t he realize that the passenger’s cell phone was probably in that bag, and of course when the flight just lands everyone must start frantically dialing to update their Facebook status because life will not go on until everyone knows you just landed….!

For some reason this strikes me as funny…how I would have loved to have witnessed this.

That said, I imagine it was just the last straw for this attendent. I’ve often been surprised a how incredibly impatient some passengers are, immediately jockeying for position to get off the plane, whether or not they have a connection to make. I mean, this guy had the audacity to think he could circumvent the rules that all the other passengers were following?

The flight attendant should have handled the situation the way the attendant on a flight I was on did. She was telling everyone over the PA to please remain seated, when a man got up and started messing around in the overhead bin. So the flight attendant said “…everyone, that is but you, sir; please feel free to be up and about as we taxi to the gate.”

The passenger was a total jerk here. He just pushed the flight attendant over the edge. Flight attendants control themselves all the time against rude passengers, and this one just went way too far for him to control himself anymore. No, he should not have done what he did, but it is not a crime, and he should keep his job. Maybe even a promotion would be in order?!

I fail to understand why someone would insist upon being out of their seat ahead of the instructed time, whether or not safety is an issue based on the seat belt sign, if he will not be able to exit the plane prior to the doors opening. He could have literally stood at the door with his luggage the entire ride, and would not have made better time. Ironically, the only way he could have exited the plane sooner than the doors opening, would be inflatable slide. Wonder if he took advantage of it since someone had already prepped it for him…

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